(IDEX Online) - A luxury jeweler in Ukraine that started making body armor after the Russian invasion is now sending wedding rings to frontline soldiers.Oberig's manufacturing base in Kharkiv - Ukraine's heavily-shelled second city - has so far contributed more than 6,000 items of body armor to the war effort.And now it's sending silver wedding rings - 148 and counting - to soldiers...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) says it is poised to become the world's largest hub for both rough and polished gems, as it reported over $11bn of trade in the first quarter of 2022.In February it announced it had overtaken Antwerp as the top trading hub globally for rough diamonds - over $22.8bn in 2021.And with over $4bn of polished trade in Q1 2022 - a year-on-year rise of...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Civil Society Coalition is urging the Kimberley Process (KP) to take a stand against Russian diamonds and own up to the fact that its current definition of conflict diamonds is not broad enough."The KP being unable to even discuss whether it should continue certifying Russian diamonds as conflict free proves what the KP Civil Society Coalition has been denouncing for years, namely...Read More
RAPAPORT... A rare 5.09-carat, blue Paraiba tourmaline and diamond ring will be the star of the upcoming Hong Kong Jewels and Jadeite sale at Bonhams.The piece, which carries a high estimate of HKD 3.8 million ($484,247), will go up for auction on June 22, Bonhams said last week. It makes its way to market as the Asian gem-collecting community is progressively starting to explore new gemstones, th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A flawless 103.49-ct diamond sold for over $20m at Christie's New York, beating its high estimate of $18m.The Light of Africa Diamond (pictured) is a D-color, Type IIa emerald-cut stone, from the iconic Cullinan mine, in South Africa.It was cut and polished in South Africa from a 299.3 carat rough stone, which was sold to Stargems DMCC, Dubai-based arm of the Antwerp diamond s...Read More
RAPAPORT... The World Diamond Congress is set to take place in Israel in 2023, following a five-year period in which the event ran in a virtual format.The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) will host the triennial event on March 29 and 30, it said last week. The summit grants the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) a forum to discuss...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Celebrity jeweler De Grisogono, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020, has been bought for an undisclosed sum by the Dubai-based Damac Group.De Grisogono was known for its close links with Hollywood actress Natalie Portman and supermodel Naomi Campbell, as well as its Creation I necklace, featuring the the largest D/IF diamond in the world (pictured), which sold for $33.7m at Christie...Read More
RAPAPORT... A pink diamond ring was the top seller at Christie's Jewels Online, smashing its estimate to rake in $126,000.The cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut, 0.84-carat, fancy-intense-pink, internally flawless diamond ring had a high price tag of $70,000, Christie's said last week. It was one of several items that garnered well above their high estimates at the May 31 to June 10 s...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Civil Society Coalition is urging the Kimberley Process (KP) to take a stand against Russian diamonds and own up to the fact that its current definition of conflict diamonds is not broad enough."The KP being unable to even discuss whether it should continue certifying Russian diamonds as conflict free proves what the KP Civil Society Coalition has been denouncing for years, namely...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a 245-carat rough from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, its third 100-carat-plus stone in three weeks.The "exceptional-quality," white, type IIa diamond was unearthed at the site on June 11, Gem Diamonds said Monday. The discovery closely follows that of a high-quality, 125-carat diamond on May 31 and a high-quality, 129-carat diamond on May 23.The discoveries i...Read More
RAPAPORT... The diamond industry is being driven by expectations. While this is not a rare occurrence, it is worth noting, given the unusual dynamic currently shaping the market.While there is a lot of polished inventory available today - as the number of stones listed on RapNet attests - manufacturers and dealers anticipate scarcities later in the third quarter once demand starts to ramp up for t...Read More
On the supply side, 15 countries on the African continent now provide 50% of global diamonds. The five largest African mining countries (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe) recover over 35 million carats of diamonds from their mines.Nevertheless, most of the rough diamonds from African mines are either sold in auctions or through supply contracts with miners. Until now almost 90%...Read More
RAPAPORT... Group revenue at Chow Tai Fook fell 13% in the first two months of the fiscal year as a variety of challenges dented consumer demand."For fiscal year 2023, we expect that retail market performance in the mainland may still be affected by the pandemic and other macroeconomic factors," the company said last week. In its outlook for the year ending March 31, 2023, Chow Tai Fook cited...Read More
RAPAPORT... The diamond industry is being driven by expectations. While this is not a rare occurrence, it is worth noting, given the unusual dynamic currently shaping the market.While there is a lot of polished inventory available today - as the number of stones listed on RapNet attests - manufacturers and dealers anticipate scarcities later in the third quarter once demand starts to ramp up for t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Jewelry giant Sterling has announced a $175m settlement over long-running claims that it subjected 68,000 female workers to gender bias.Women who were poised for a classwide action will receive a split of the sum, minus an estimated $50m in legal fees and costs (leaving them with an average of just under $1,850).Sterling, part of the Signet group - the biggest US jewelry retailer,...Read More
RAPAPORT... E-commerce jeweler Blue Nile is planning to list on the Nasdaq exchange, wooing investors with a projected compound annual growth rate of 8% to 17% over the next two years. The listing will be through a merger with Mudrick Capital, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), with the new entity continuing to operate under the Blue Nile label, the firms announced Friday in a fili...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has agreed to pay $175 million to resolve a 2008 legal dispute involving 68,000 female workers who alleged it discriminated against women.Class members who filed the suit against Sterling Jewelers - the division of Signet that oversees Kay Jewelers and Jared - will receive about $125 million combined from the settlement, while the remainder will cover attorneys' fees an...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH Luxury Ventures has joined two other investors in a $90 million funding round for lab-grown producer Lusix.The money will help Lusix open a new, solar-powered factory in Israel, where production is due to start this summer, the company said Friday."I don't think there's ever been, so far, a leading luxury brand that has invested in lab-grown diamonds," Lusix founder Benny Lan...Read More
RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) has graded a 30.18-carat lab-grown that it claims is the world's largest polished synthetic diamond.Mumbai-based lab-grown company Ethereal Green Diamond created the emerald-cut, H-color, VS2-clarity diamond, named Pride of India, IGI said last week. The stone was made using chemical vapor deposition (CVD).The polished diamond was fashioned...Read More
(IDEX Online) - GIA is to close its Antwerp grading lab, saying it is no longer economically viable.It will stop taking submissions on 1 July and cease trading altogether on 31 July.GIA indicated back in August 2020 that it could close or scale down the Antwerp operation. The Covid pandemic added to its woes, on top of a shift to manufacturing in India and banks' reluctance to lend. Belg...Read More